Chewy Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with the perfect crispy outside and melt-in-your-mouth caramel-y center. Ready in just 20 minutes for a quick and delicious sweet treat.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
I haven't told you yet but this week I'm taking a trip.
In fact, it's my first international trip in a decade! On Wednesday, I'm packing up and leaving for England where I will spend 9 glorious days hiking around the English countryside, sipping drinks in nearby pubs, and learning what it's like to drive (ride) on the left side of the road. I'm also, for the first time ever, going to be without my kids for longer than a week. So it's with a mixture of excitement and apprehension that I take off. But don't worry, the excitement is strong.
My trip means the next time you're going to hear from me (Wednesday) I'll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean. But again, don't worry. While I'm gone I'll still be popping up to share new recipes with you, like always. And before even all that, I have a new recipe for you today.
BEST EVER vegan oatmeal cookies! Chewy, sweet, and filled with cinnamon flavor and oat crunch in every bite, I feel certain that you are going to love these vegan cookies.
How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Cookies {Video}
Recommended Ingredients and Equipment
These cookies are sweet and chewy with the perfect caramel oatmeal flavor. And you’re going to love how simple they are. They can be made in just 20 minutes with 9 ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend with great success. (<<affiliate link)
- Old-Fashioned Oats - These cookies are best made with Thick Cut Old Fashioned Oats. For gluten-free cookies, make sure to find oats that are labeled as gluten-free.
- Baking Soda
- Vegan Butter – Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- White & Brown Sugar–
Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements.
- Applesauce - This is the binder of the recipe. You could replace it with equal amounts of mashed bananas or a variety of other egg replacers.
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon
- Salt
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with by hand or with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including baking sheets, silicone baking mats, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Step One – Make the Dough
First combine the dry ingredients, whisking together until they are evenly mixed. Set aside.
In a stand-up mixer, whip both the sugars and butter until they are thick and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Next, add the applesauce and vanilla extract. Once these are added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out.
Add the dry ingredients, mix until just combined, and remove the dough from the mixer.
Step Two - Chill and Bake
Before baking the cookies, place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. This prevents them from spreading too much in the oven. Once the dough is chilled, roll it into balls about 2 tablespoons in size. Place them on a baking sheet and press them down ever so slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, pulling them out when they are slightly underdone. They continue to harden as they cool. This is the secret to getting chewy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.
Serving and Storing
Serve these cookies once they are cool.
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze leftover cookie dough for up to two months. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large Ziplock bag and return to the freezer. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer, let thaw slightly, and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you a gummy and dense cookie.
- For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer. For chewier cookies, use all brown sugar and remove from the oven when slightly underdone.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. This prevents cookies from falling apart as they cool.
- Try some variations. Add about 1 cup raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips, or pumpkin seeds to this recipe for a new flavor.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup old fashioned oats
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter with brown and granulated sugars until thick and creamy, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add applesauce and vanilla extract and beat to combine. The dough may look curdled at this point.
- In a large bowl combine oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixer in 3 batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each batch. Mix until a uniform dough has formed.
- Wrap bowl in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes before baking.
- Once chilled, scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and round them between your hands. Place rounded cookies on the prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart from one another. Repeat until both cookie sheets are filled up. You will likely have extra dough for a 3rd sheet.
- Press each cookie down slightly with the palm of your hand and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. They will appear slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven but will continue cooking on the baking sheet.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The uncooked dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Video
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer. For chewier cookies, use all brown sugar and remove from the oven when slightly underdone.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. This prevents cookies from falling apart as they cool.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Jodi says
Hello! I need to make these with coconut oil, coconut sugar, and GF bob's 1 to 1 flour, as I cannot have gluten, cane sugar, or dairy. Have you had anyone contact you that has tried these substitutions? I'm thinking it will all work well.
Sarah says
I think that should work. It will change the texture but I'm sure they will still be tasty!
Pavithra says
Can I substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose flour?
Sarah says
You could substitute 50% for wheat but I wouldn't recommend more than that.
Debra says
Do you think I could use oat flour instead of all purpose flour?
Sarah says
I’ve never tried it so I can’t recommend it but typically oat flour cannot be swapped 1:1 for ap flour. If you do try it, let us know how it turns outs!
Olivia Christianson says
I’ve used some oat and some white bread and they were great but would love to hear if you try all oat. Seems like you’d want just a touch more moisture.
Stacy says
Can I swap a flax egg for the applesauce?
Sarah says
Yes, that would work.
Ceg says
Made these with the regular recipe Thursday. They were gone by yesterday so made a second batter with vegan butterscotch chips. May be my favorite cookie,vegan or not,EVER. Bravo!
Sarah says
Where do you find vegan butterscotch chips? I would love to try it with them.
Ceg says
Found them on Amazon. King David brand. My non-vegan family member that we visited over Christmas destroyed these and asked me to make more!!
Michelle says
Hi! Can I use almond butter instead of vegan butter?
Sarah says
This would drastically affect the taste and texture so I don't recommend it.
Martina Schmidt says
Since I came across this recipe less than a month ago I have made them already 3 times and I will keep returning to it.
The first time I made them I replaced all the sugar with date sugar, as that's my go to sweetener for baking.
My partner then decided to spread a bit of jam on the cookie and this was so delicious that the following times I used this dough to make thumbprint cookies. Half of them with raspberry jam, the other with orange ginger marmalade.
I reduced the sugar by about a third when adding the jam and they are so delicious!
Thanks so much for posting. This is definitely my go to oatmeal cookie recipe now!
Sarah says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing with us your different versions. Inspiring!
Laura says
If I dont need it to be vegan, can I use regular butter without it changing the taste or consistency??
Sarah says
That should be fine.
Abby says
Would these work with gluten free flour? (I usually use Bobs red mill 1:1)
Sarah says
I think with Bob's 1:1 they would work out fine. I haven't tried it but generally have good luck with that flour. Let us know how it goes!
Diana says
They worked but cut down baking by 1 min. to have that similar chewiness. Yummy! Thanks for the suggestion, Sarah. ?
Diana says
Hi Sarah,
Is there any way to cut the sugar down a bit in this recipe? Otherwise, awesome cookies! Love the chewy texture 🙂
Thank you,
Diana
Sarah says
If you cut down the sugar is will affect the chewiness. However, try reducing the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup and I don't imagine the texture would be extremely different. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
Molly says
Made these & love them! This is my new go-to cookie recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer says
Made these and even my non vegan siblings can’t stop eating them! I will have to make more this weekend because there’s gonna be none left. Love this recipe!
Sarah says
So glad to hear that. Enjoy!
Isadora Guidoni says
Easily the most vegab sback I've ever heard of. Can't wait to give thema spin.
jacquie says
i hope you have a fantastic trip. Going walking in England or Ireland has been something i have wanted to do for a long time but haven't been able to yet. I would love to hear how it goes if you feel like sharing when you return. I would also be interested in how you went about planning a trip like that.
have fun! oh the cookie recipe looks great as well.
Sarah says
Thanks! I'll keep you all updated on my trip!
Jan says
I'm making your cookies and brownies tonight for a baby shower at work. Will think of you as we eat them! Wishing you a wonderful trip--it sounds amazing! I will look forward to hearing about England in your future blogs. Enjoy!
Sarah says
Thanks, Jan. Enjoy the baby shower!